Deconstructed Individual Surprise Beef Wellingtons

It's time to celebrate!  We finally finished preparing our 2010 taxes.  I made our family a gourmet meal to enjoy at our fancy formal dining room table we only use for holiday meals.  The girls stayed up late, and we ate ice cream after dinner.  It was the perfect evening at home!

I am a huge fan of Hell's Kitchen and the infamous Gordon Ramsay.  I have admired his Beef Wellingtons throughout all the seasons of Hell's Kitchen.  I wanted to make it a little fancier by making them in individual pockets of puff pastry, with the sauce on the outside.  I topped the tenderloins with a flavorful garlic and thyme cream cheese.  The baby portobello mushroom sauce was made with red wine, beef consomme, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary.  There are a lot of flavors going on here, and the sauce was just a little extra something.  A little bit of this sauce goes a long way. 

This is definitely a weekend or celebratory meal as it takes some time to prepare.  I served it with Parmesan Crusted Roasted Green Beans and Roasted Rosemary potatoes.  Delish!

I tried to document the process thoroughly, but my kitchen lighting is the worst at night.  

Beef Wellington Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb beef tenderloin, cut into 4 individual steaks (about 3/4 inches thick)
kosher salt
black pepper
1 T canola oil
1 T olive oil
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
4 oz. cream cheese, very cold
3 cloves roasted garlic, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 stem fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Dry the steaks thoroughly with a paper towel, and season with kosher salt and pepper. 

In a large cast iron skillet on high, heat the canola and olive oil until smoking.  Add the seasoned steaks and sear them on the first side for 3 minutes.  Turn them over and sear the other side for 2 minutes.  Use tongs to help you sear the sides of all steaks.  This will help seal in the juices while they are baking inside the puff pastry.  Remove to a plate and let rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. 

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, garlic, and fresh thyme.  Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble. 

Unroll the thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll about 1/2 inch on all sides.  Cut into 4 equal squares.  Place a steak into the middle of each puff pastry square.  Top with 1 oz. of the cream cheese mixture. 

Brush the edges of pastry with egg wash.

Turn the steaks over so they are now cream cheese side down. 

Fold the puff pastry sides up over the steak, and press to seal.  Turn them back over and brush surface with egg wash.  Score lines in the top using a sharp knife.

Place the wrapped steaks on a baking rack over a jelly roll pan.  This will catch the steak juices, if any come out, and will help the bottom of the pastry cook.  

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  This should bring them to about medium-rare doneness.  Remove from the oven and let them rest on the hot pan for about 5 minutes.  They will continue to cook to a true medium.  At least this was my experience.  You can always use a meat thermometer to test doneness.

Baby Portobello Mushroom Sauce:

2 T unsalted butter, divided
1 T olive oil
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
3 shallotts, sliced thin
1/2 cup red wine
1 can beef consomme
2 T balsamic vinegar
fresh rosemary sprig (optional-adds tons of flavor)
black pepper

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 T butter and olive oil.  Add the portobello mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the shallotts and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in the red wine and let simmer until most of it is absorbed or evaporated, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the beef consomme and balsamic vinegar.  Throw in the whole rosemary sprig (will remove later). 

Turn heat to low and let simmer until sauce is reduced by half, pictured below.  If the sauce reduces too much and tastes too salty, add some water.  Remove the rosemary sprig.  Stir in the other 1 T butter.  Taste and season with black pepper.

After the steaks have rested,  plate up and top with mushrooms and drizzle with sauce.    Enjoy!

Linked up at:

Tuesdays at the Table (All the Small Stuff)

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday (Blessed with Grace)

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